Guidance and control architecture for the EAVE vehicle

For the past several years the Marine Systems Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) has directed its efforts towards the development of the technologies required for unmanned untethered submersible vehicles. The current focus of those efforts is to develop a system architecture that will allow the implementation of a knowledge-based guidance and control system. The goal of this effort is to implement a simple system which has addressed the basic problems and will allow for expansion as insight is gained from field testing the concepts using the Experimental Autonomous Vehicle (EAVE) system at MSEL. This paper considers those factors that have driven the development of an architecture which is being implemented in the EAVE vehicle system. Its intent is to focus on those issues that have guided the application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to meet the requirements of the system and its mission. The architecture being implemented is outlined and some of its features detailed.